Spain contests the UK's claim to Gibraltar and draft EU Brexit negotiating guidelines have sparked a row over the British overseas territory. Members of the European Parliament call "for both sides to act in good faith and full transparency so as to ensure an orderly exit".

But with U.S. officials suggesting Russian forces may have colluded in the latest massacre blamed on Bashar al-Assad's regime, it is not clear if he would be invited to meet President Vladimir Putin. He said Russian Federation hopes the USA can give constructive response to this suggestion. Syria's government has denied responsibility for the gas attack in a rebel-held area of northern Syria that killed at least 87 people, many of them children.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed there were many problems, but stressed that Moscow was "open to dialogue with the USA in all different areas". But at least they have turned a corner. The leaders of Europe and Canada would need to take the hard political decisions to boost defense spending, he said.

This led Speaker Nabih Berri to announce Tuesday a parliamentary session for Thursday to extend Parliament's tenure by one more year. Aoun become head of state in a power-sharing deal that saw Saad al-Hariri, Lebanon's leading Sunni Muslim politician, appointed premier in a unity cabinet including almost all Lebanon's main parties.

However, it is unlikely to cause Chinese President Xi Jinping to change his stance on North Korea at his meetings with his USA counterpart Donald Trump on Thursday (April 6) and Friday at the latter's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The UN Security Council on Thursday strongly condemned North Korea for its ballistic missile test this week. Pyongyang is on a quest to develop a long-range missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the USA mainland, and has staged five nuclear tests so ...

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis said Monday there is "no doubt" the Syrian regime was behind last week s deadly chemical strike, while USA officials accused Moscow of waging a misinformation campaign around the attack. "Or would Russian Federation prefer to realign with the United States, with other Western countries and Middle East countries who are seeking to resolve the Syrian crisis?" Russia's top diplomat accused the United States on Wednesday of carrying out an unlawful attack against Syrian ...

The dollar index .DXY , which measures the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.5 percent at its lowest since late March. "While they're not manipulating their currency at the moment because it doesn't suit their economic needs, make no mistake about it, as soon as the tide turns they will".

The agenda for the meeting wasn't announced. China typically sides with Russian Federation in the Security Council, including in opposing US -backed measures to punish Syria for its use of chemical weapons. "U.S. and Russian interests, whether in Syria, toward North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, human rights, etc. are far too different-despite President Trump's earlier interest in an understanding".

Another MoU was signed on cooperation in the field of sports. Stating that more than 60,000 Indian students are studying in Australia, the President said there is huge potential for cooperation in the education sector between the two nations.

Putin accused Syrian rebels of planning to stage chemical attacks to be blamed on the Assad regime in order to lure the United States, which bombarded a Syrian air base last week, deeper into the conflict. Russian Federation vetoed a United Nations resolution Wednesday that would have condemned the reported use of chemical weapons in a town in northern Syria and demanded a speedy investigation, triggering clashes between Moscow and the measure's Western backers.

The president told host Maria Bartiromo that he and Xi had just finished dinner when he told the Chinese president of what had just happened in the Middle East. It's safe to say the interview did not go down well on Twitter. "We're nearly finished and I, what does he do, finish his dessert and go home", Trump asked rhetorically.

James Nicholls, senior brand manager at Sharp's Brewery, said: "We believe the 2017 British & Irish Lions Tour to New Zealand represents the iconic and inspirational pinnacle of the rugby game so this is a proud moment for all of us in the brewery".